[greymule]

When a live ball goes to dead ball territory, unless it's a pitch or a throw from the rubber, the award is 2 bases. Right?

I thought there was another, albeit much rarer, play in which the ball goes out of play and it's neither a pitch nor a throw from the rubber nor a throw by a fielder. The only book I have with me here at work is ASA 2003, but I seem to remember something similar in all the books: "When a fielder loses possession of a ball, such as on an attempted tag, and the ball enters the dead ball area . . . each runner is awarded one base from the last base touched at the time the ball entered the dead ball area. . . ."

I had this play last year. Abel on 2B. Baker hits a ground ball to F6, and Abel tries to advance. F6 swipes his glove at Abel in an attempt to tag him. The glove hits Abel's knee, but the ball pop outs and shoots into DBT. I thought it was one base from where the runner was at the point the ball went into DBT. Since, when the ball went out, Abel was between 2B and 3B and Baker had not reached 1B, I gave them 3B and 1B, respectively.

Or this one: Abel is caught in a rundown between 1B and 2B. As Abel retreats to 1B, the throw beats him. The fielder puts the glove on the ground, but as Abel slides in, he knocks the ball loose and it goes into the dugout. I thought Abel got one base in that situation, not two.

And what about this? Abel is on 2B and Baker hits a foul pop that F2 catches near the dugout. F2 takes a couple of steps back toward his position and then drops the ball, which hits his shoe and rolls into the dugout. I thought Abel got one base only in that situation.

If this applies to baseball too, then I would say that F2 lost control of the ball. He didn't throw it.